


On Water (and Irrationality)

by Flamingbluepanda



Series: On the (Not So) Mortifying Ordeal of Being Known [3]
Category: The Old Guard (Comics), The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Families of Choice, Fluff, Humor, M/M, Oceans, Ramadan, hydrophobia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-27
Updated: 2020-08-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:40:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26133604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flamingbluepanda/pseuds/Flamingbluepanda
Summary: A beach trip reveals irrational fears and past experiences
Relationships: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova
Series: On the (Not So) Mortifying Ordeal of Being Known [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1877365
Comments: 13
Kudos: 310





	On Water (and Irrationality)

**Author's Note:**

> Me: oh i'll make a series about nile bonding with her fam! it'll be short and cute
> 
> This series: Lol you thought bitch
> 
> Yeah, so there's... 26 works total here? idk something like that. who's ready to hear about the first 10 years of miles life huh?!
> 
> Dedicated to. Uh. Idk, whoever decided to invent chipwhiches

They were in Italy when the first Ramadan of her new life arrived without much fanfare, which threw Nile for a loop since she hadn’t even realized she missed  _ lent. _

“I never much enjoyed the lent fast,” Nicky explained when Nile asked. “If God wants me to starve for his glory, why would he grant me a mouth and excellent food?”

“That sounds like something Joe would say,” Nile accused, and Nicky gave her a bashful smile. “For as much as Joe and I have argued over faith, I admit that he may have opened my eyes to some of the more… concerning traditions, in the beginning. Besides, I gave up wine  _ and  _ sex for lent!”

“Oh ew,” Nile’s nose scrunched up, “I didn’t need to know that last part.”

“What last part?” Joe asked as he entered. A week in, and Nile was just barely noticing his cheekbones more. He was also just… quieter, in general. Not in a bad way, almost… meditative. He smiled a lot, prayed more. Nicky smiled brightly at him “Nile’s impressed that we only make love ten months out of the year.”

“It’s even worse when Lent and Ramadan are one right after the other,” Andy shouted from the kitchen. “Or heavens forbid  _ they overlap!” _

Nicky and Joe both winced at the memory, and Nile laughed hard enough that she almost fell out of her armchair. Joe crossed to sit next to Nicky, who immediately took his hand and kissed his knuckles, making Joe smile at him. 

Andy came into the room, wiping her hands on a towel. “For anyone who  _ is  _ eating today, there’s pineapple in the kitchen.”

Joe whined playfully, and Nicky kissed his knuckles again. “There’s a whole bowl for you after sunset, _H_ _abibi,_ I made sure of it.” 

“Speaking of the sun,” Andy said, eyeing Joe, “you gonna be okay if we take a beach day?”

Nile immediately perked up at the idea of going to the beach, and Joe shrugged. “I’ll be fine. Any excuse to see Nicky in a bathing suit.”

Nicky let out an uncharacteristically excited noise and kissed Joe’s forehead, running off to go get changed. Joe chuckled fondly, shaking his head. 

“He’s  _ such  _ a waterbug,” he explained to Nile. “Genova was on the water, he used to spend any free time he had in the ocean. I don’t think he ever really got the salt water out of his veins.” 

“That’s absolutely adorable,” Nile said, picturing a tiny Nicky bouncing in the waves. Joe nodded emphatically. 

An hour later, they all crammed in the car as Nicky drove to the beach- and sufficiently taught Nile why Nicky wasn’t allowed to drive outside of Italy. 

(“If you think this is bad,” Joe whispered conspiratorially, “you should’ve seen him on a horse.”

“The poor horse,” Nile said, and Nicky cursed at them even while he was laughing.)

They arrived early enough that they got a good spot. Joe handed Nile some money and told her to practice her Italian by renting them a pair of beach umbrellas. By the time she got back, Andy and Nicky were both in the water. Joe was laying out beach towels and setting up the single beach chair they brought. Nicky had left his shirt on the sand, and Nile noticed that Joe wasn’t wearing swim trunks, just a pair of shorts and a tank top. He perked up when he saw her and hurried over to grab one of the umbrellas.

They set them up so that all four beach towels were covered, and Joe nodded once before plopping down on the chair. He stretched out and pulled a book out of his bag, the picture of beach comfort.

Nile frowned. “You're not going in the water?”

“I don’t particularly like… water.” He shrugged. “I  _ am  _ from the desert.”

Nile pursed her lips, sensing there was more to it than that. “I can’t just leave you sitting here on your own-”

“I’m not on my own,” he waved his book around. “I have my old friend Kevin Kwan to keep me company.”

Nile arched an eyebrow at the copy of  _ Crazy Rich Asians  _ being waved about, then looked at the water longingly. “If you're sure…”

“Andy will come back and keep me company in a bit,” Joe waved a hand. “Go on, I’m trusting you to drag Nicky in for lunch.”

Nile slipped off her bikini coverup and darted into the ocean with Nicky and Andy. Andy was standing waist-deep in a tank top and swim bottoms, letting the waves beat against her. Nile frowned, wading over and touching her arm. Andy startled, then looked at her. 

“Sorry were you thinking about…”

Andy sighed, shaking her head. “I don’t think I’m ever not, honestly. It’s okay though, in a bit I’m gonna go-”

“Keep Joe company, he mentioned.” Nile frowned. “He doesn’t like the water?”

“Swimming, mostly.” Andy nodded. “Joe’s got a whole  _ thing _ with the ocean. It only got worse after Quynh.”

“And you?”

Andy shrugged. “I hate the ocean because it took Quynh. I don’t have any strong feelings about it otherwise.”

“Unlike Nicky.”

Andy snorted “yeah, no. Nicky loves the ocean. He’d stay out there forever.”

“I’ll keep an eye on him,” Nile chuckled, and Andy nodded. Nile waded forward, swimming towards Nicky when her feet wouldn't touch the bottom anymore. He’d somehow made it just past the wave line, and was peacefully bobbing in the water, looking blissed out and happy. Nile splashed him.

As Nicky spluttered and retaliated, Nile ducked, and the ensuing splash war lasted until the pair of them were laughing hard enough that they couldn’t focus on treading water. They moved back towards the shore so that their feet touched the sand. 

“You realize your, like,  _ glowing  _ right?” Nile asked. “You look so goddamn happy.”

“The sea reminds me of home,” Nicky smiled in a far off, nostalgic way. “I was close enough to the ocean that I could smell it from my window. I literally was swimming before I could walk.”

“And you ended up with a hydrophobe from the African desert,” Nile said, and Nicky laughed.

“Don’t let him fool you,” Nicky said eventually. “Joe likes water well enough, just not  _ the ocean. _ Or pools. Or anything bigger than a puddle that he can splash me with.” 

“Don’t take him to Lake Michigan, got it.” Nile nodded, and Nicky chuckled. “He didn’t- I had to teach the man to swim. He hated every second of it.” 

“Please tell me you didn’t find out he couldn’t swim after watching him drown.” 

“No,” Nicky went quiet, trying not to burst out laughing, “I found out he couldn’t swim after I dragged him in a lake.”

Nile burst out laughing, and Nicky beamed at her, snickering. “I was trying to be  _ romantic  _ and get him to swim and then he almost drowned, he looked like a wet cat and glared at me for the next two days. I insisted he learn how to swim after that.”

The laugher died down as Nicky became serious. “I’m glad I did too. When we were looking for Quynh we had to do a lot of swimming. He was so brave, he’d just had his worst fears justified and he was still the first person to go diving for her.”

Nile touched his arm, and Nicky turned to her, then smiled. “It’s okay. Come, let’s go further out again.”

True to Andy and Joe’s predictions, Nicky happily stayed in the ocean until the beach was full and the sun was high. Nile didn’t have to drag him in but he definitely wouldn’t have come in on his own. 

Andy had set out the sandwiches and sodas by the time they got there, and Joe had traded  _ Crazy Rich Asians  _ for  _ Good Omens. _

Nicky nudged him as he sat on the towel next to Joe. “Are you okay?”

Joe’s smile was a little weary. He’d removed his shirt and it was now soaking wet, sitting around his shoulders. “Just a little overheated. Andy is taking good care of me. I’ll sip water if it gets too bad.”

“Or,” Andy grumbled, “we could just  _ leave early  _ instead of forcing you to break your fast for our comfort.” 

Joe actually  _ blushed  _ a little and Nicky kissed his knee, which was the closest thing Nicky could reach without standing. 

“What she said,  _ Tesoro _ ,” Nicky said, “we’ll go if you feel bad.”

“I’m fine for now,” Joe lightly tapped Nicky on the head with his book. “Now eat, the last thing I want is to have to dive in after you because you passed out from hunger."

Nicky tucked into his sandwich, and Nole glanced up at Joe. “So… 900 years and you hate the ocean, huh?”

Joe lowered his sunglasses enough that he could look at Nile over their rims. “Do you know that at the bottom of the ocean there could still be dinosaurs? We know more about  _ space  _ than we do about the ocean.”

Andy snorted, muttering that it was “all unnatural, what’s so bad about keeping your damn feet on the ground.” 

Nile grinned at him. “Yeah but the ocean is cool. And free. And full of good food.”

“Oh, I know that my father was a merchant.” Joe chuckled and leaned back in his chair. “Me and my brother, Izaak, we grew up on the ship. I was, oh, four or five when I took my first voyage?”

Nile blinked, “then why…”

“Before my first voyage, when I _was_ four or five, my father sat me down and said something that roughly translates to ‘son, the sea will provide for us, but if you ever mock or underestimate her she will sweep you up and spit you out and you will  _ die.’” _

Nile stared at him, and Joe chuckled. “No one ever said that Ibrahim Al-Kaysani was a soft-spoken man, except  _ maybe  _ my mother.”

“My father gave me a similar talk,” Nicky said, swallowing the last bits of his sandwich, “only his had more references to Lucifer grabbing yourself ankles and pulling you beneath the surf.”

Apparently, that was all Nicky had to say because he got up to head back to the water. Joe grabbed him by the waistband of his swim trunks and dragged him back. “Let your food  _ digest  _ for gods’ sakes Nicolo, or you’ll get a cramp and then  _ you’re  _ going to get swept up and spit out and die.” 

Nicky whines like a kid, and Joe kissed his temple soothingly. “Just wait five minutes,  _ Habibi.  _ Spend some time with your foolish, sea fearing husband while Andy gets you ice cream.”

“Who said I was buying anyone ice cream?” Andy protested, still eating her sandwich, “Nicky's done, make  _ him  _ go.”

“Children, the both of you.” Nile shook her head, dusting sand off her legs.  _ “I’ll  _ go.”

They ended up staying at the beach for a few more hours before Joe threw in the towel and Andy called Nicky and Nile into shore. The drive home was slower, with Joe dozing next to Nicky in the back seat. They stopped once on the way so Joe could say his afternoon prayer, and a few minutes before they got home Joe’s sunset alarm rang. 

He peeked up immediately as Nicky quickly tugged him into a brief kiss. Andy instantly reached into her bag for a water bottle, which Joe accepted and gratefully sipped. He was in high spirits when they finally reached the house. 

As they went inside, Nile gently hip-checked Joe. “You feel okay?”

Joe smiled brightly at her, completely at peace. “I think this is the happiest I’ve felt since Merrick.” 

And then he darted inside, shouting about bowls of pineapple with his name on them. 

**Author's Note:**

> my tumbl! www.flamingbluepanda.tumblr.com
> 
> I love you all bye!!!


End file.
